202559: It is not valid to sell something for an unknown price or for a price to be paid within an unknown period of time

There is a man who had a piece of land, and he needed money so he wanted to sell it. One of his relatives came and gave him the money he wanted on the basis that it was part of the price of the land, but they did not agree on the price or on a time for paying the remainder of the price. That happened a year and a half ago, and the price of land is increasing.
Should the price of the land be worked out on the basis of current prices or should it be worked out on the basis of the price at the time when some of the price was paid in the past?

Published Date: 2014-11-12

Praise
be to Allah.

Firstly:

A sale for an unknown price is not valid, because it involves
ambiguity. One of the conditions of a sale being valid is that the price
should be known.

Ibn Hazm (may Allah have mercy on him) said in al-Muhalla
(7/512):

It is not valid to sell something without a known price, such
as one who sells something according to the market price (without specifying
what it is), or for whatever So and so bought it for, or for the current
value. All such transactions are invalid, because they are transactions that
involve ambiguity and consuming people’s wealth unlawfully. End quote.

Ad-Dasooqi (may Allah have mercy on him) said in his
Haashiyah (3/15):

It is essential that the price and the item for which it is
to be paid should be known to both the seller and the purchaser, otherwise
the transaction is invalid. End quote.

Ibn ‘Aabideen (may Allah have mercy on him) said in his
Haashiyah (4/529):

One condition of it being valid is that the amount and price
of what is being sold should be known. End quote.

Ibn ‘Uthaymeen (may Allah have mercy on him) said:

If the price is unknown, that leads to the transaction being
rendered invalid, because one of the conditions of the transaction being
valid is knowing the price.

Similarly, the transaction is not valid if the payment period
is unknown.

An-Nawawi (may Allah have mercy on him) said:

They were unanimously agreed that it is not permissible to
sell an item for a (known) price to be paid within an unknown period.

End quote from al-Majmoo‘ (9/339)

An-Nafraawi al-Maaliki (may Allah have mercy on him) said in
al-Fawaakih ad-Dawaani (2/80):

An example of ambiguity in the payment period is if a person
purchases an item for a known price to be paid when things get better, or
until Zayd comes. Transactions involving ambiguity are not permissible, and
neither are sales of unknown items or sales in which the payment period is
unknown, such as if one says, “I will sell you this animal, and the price is
to be paid from its offspring, or when things get better.

End quote.

Based on that:

The sale of this land in the manner described in the question
is an invalid transaction, because the price is unknown and the payment
period for the remainder of the price is also unknown.

Both parties have to undo the transaction: the seller must
return the money to the purchaser and the purchaser must return the land to
the seller. Then they should do the transaction all over again, on the basis
of today’s price, or whatever they agree upon.

Shaykh Muhammad ibn Ibraaheem (may Allah have mercy on him)
was asked about a woman who sold her date palms, approximately two months
before her death, for one thousand riyals immediately and fifty saa‘s every
year for the rest of her life, and the fruit of another, unspecified, date
palm every year, also for the rest of her life.

He replied: This transaction is obviously invalid, because
the price is unknown, and it is also unknown how long the woman will live.
Once it is clear that the transaction is invalid, then the exchange that you
mention is not valid either. In fact the scholars have stated that anything
that is taken on the basis of an invalid transaction or contract comes under
the same ruling as items that are usurped or taken by force, so he should
return it with its increase (in value or number).

Based on that, these date palms are regarded as not having
passed out of the possession of that woman, so in fact she died when the
date palms were still in her possession and they form part of her estate.
Therefore they are subject to the rulings on inheritance and her legitimate
shar‘i heirs are entitled to them. What she took from the purchaser of dates
and money is regarded as a debt that she owes and it should be paid back
from her estate.